You can't help but have noticed the comment and debate during the past 24 hours over the behaviour of the Housemates in the Big Brother House. The displays of racism and bullying by some of the participants is against everything Carphone Warehouse stands for and directly contradicts my own, and the company's values. Consequently, I have concluded that we have to pull our sponsorship and remove our association with the program. We will be putting this statement out in a few minutes, but I wanted you to know first.

The Carphone Warehouse suspends Celebrity Big Brother sponsorship

18th January 2007: The Carphone Warehouse Group ("Carphone Warehouse") today announces that it is suspending its sponsorship of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother programme.

Charles Dunstone, CEO of The Carphone Warehouse said:

"Our concern has rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house. We are totally against all forms of racism and bullying and indeed this behaviour is entirely at odds with the brand values of The Carphone Warehouse. As a result we feel that as long as this continues we are unable to associate our brand with the programme.

"We had already made it clear to Channel 4 that, were this to continue, we would have to consider our position. Nothing we saw last night gave us any comfort. Accordingly we have instructed Channel 4 to remove our sponsorship name and branding with immediate effect."

I have no hesitation in taking this action and I share the concerns of those of you who have felt offended or victimised by the content of the program.